Angela Lansbury, 'Murder, She Wrote' star and legendary Hollywood actress, dead at 96

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Fox News Flash top entertainment headlines of Oct. 11

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Angela Lansbury, one of Hollywood's most legendary stars, has died. She was 96.

"The children of Dame Angela Lansbury are sad to announce that their mother died peacefully in her sleep at home in Los Angeles at 1:30 AM today, Tuesday, October 11, 2022, just five days shy of her 97th birthday," her family said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

"In addition to her three children, Anthony, Deirdre and David, she is survived by three grandchildren, Peter, Katherine and Ian, plus five great-grandchildren and her brother, producer Edgar Lansbury," the statement added. "She was proceeded in death by her husband of 53 years, Peter Shaw. A private family ceremony will be held at a date to be determined."

The "Murder, She Wrote" star has six Golden Globes and 18 Emmy nominations as well as an honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement in Motion Pictures. Lansbury was also a National Medal of Arts recipient and has a Kennedy Center Honor.

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Angela Lansbury died Tuesday at the age of 96. (Daniel Zuchnik)

Lansbury made her Broadway debut in 1957 in "Hotel Paradiso" and won Tonys for "Mame" in 1966, "Dear World" in 1969, "Gypsy" in 1974, "Sweeney Todd" in 1979 and "Blithe Spirit" in 2009. Other Broadway credits include "A Little Night Music," "The Best Man" and "Anyone Can Whistle."

Angela Brigid Lansbury was born on Oct. 16, 1925, in London. She was the daughter of Belfast-born actress Moyna MacGill and her second husband, lumber merchant Edgar Lansbury. A young Lansbury was introduced to the theater world at London’s The Old Vic. Her mother enrolled her in a school for the arts and dance.

"I was terribly shy, absolutely incapable of coming out of my shell," Lansbury remembered of her youth. "It took me years to get over that."

The Great Depression forced her father’s factory into bankruptcy, and for a few years the family lived on money her mother had saved from her theater career. But tragedy struck the family when the patriarch died in 1935 when Lansbury was just 9 years old.

When England was threatened with German bombings in 1940, Moyna struggled through red tape and won passage to America for her family. With the help of two sponsoring families, they settled in New York and lived on $150 a month. To add to their income, Angela at 16 landed a nightclub job in Montreal doing impersonations and songs. The family eventually traveled to Los Angeles where Moyna helped her daughter land a screen test at MGM. At age 17, Lansbury made her movie debut in 1944’s "Gaslight." The role earned her an Oscar nomination. She went on to play Elizabeth Taylor’s sister in "National Velvet" that year.

The following year brought another Oscar nomination for Lansbury, thanks to 1945’s "The Picture of Dorian Gray." She also played Judy Garland’s nemesis in "The Harvey Girls," Walter Pidgeon’s spiteful wife in "If Winter Comes," Queen Anne in "The Three Musketeers."

At 19, Lansbury married leading man Richard Cromwell. The couple separated nine months later, and Lansbury learned the actor was gay. The two remained friends until his death in 1960 at age 50 from cancer.

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Portrait of actress Angela Lansbury from the film "The Red Danube" circa 1949. Lansbury found success as a character actress in Hollywood. (MGM Studios/Getty Images)

In 1949, Lansbury married Peter Shaw, a British actor who later became a Hollywood agent, in London. Moyna served as matron of honor. The 1950s were a troubled time for the Shaws: Lansbury's career slowed down; her mother died after a battle with cancer; Shaw underwent a hip operation; the children were on drugs; the family house in Malibu, California, burned to the ground.

Lansbury, determined to support her family, kept busy pursuing a thriving career both on the big screen, on television and on the stage. At one point, she played Elvis Presley’s mother in 1961’s "Blue Hawaii" despite the actress being 10 years older than the singer.

In 1962, she played Laurence Harvey’s mother in "The Manchurian Candidate." For this role, she was three years older than her on-screen son. It earned Lansbury her third Oscar nomination.

Her stardom came in middle age when she became the hit of the New York theater, winning Tony Awards for "Mame" (1966), "Dear World" (1969), "Gypsy" (1975) and "Sweeney Todd" (1979).

She was back on Broadway and got another Tony nomination in 2007 in Terrence McNally’s "Deuce," playing a scrappy, brash former tennis star reflecting with another ex-star as she watches a modern-day match from the stands. In 2009, she collected her fifth Tony for best featured actress in a revival of Noel Coward’s "Blithe Spirit," and in 2015 she won an Olivier Award in the role.

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Angela Lansbury starred as mystery writer Jessica Fletcher on "Murder, She Wrote," a CBS television detective drama. The series premiered Sept. 30, 1984. (CBS via Getty Images)

Lansbury was celebrated in Hollywood for being a character actress. Her most iconic role is that of Jessica Fletcher in "Murder, She Wrote," which premiered in September 1984. Lansbury starred in a whopping 256 episodes and earned 12 Emmy nominations.

Based loosely on Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple stories, the series centered around Jessica Fletcher, a middle-aged widow and former substitute schoolteacher living in the seaside village of Cabot Cove, Maine. She had achieved notice as a mystery novelist and amateur sleuth.

The actress found the first series season exhausting.

"I was shocked when I learned that I had to work 12 to 15 hours a day, relentlessly, day in, day out," she recalled. "I had to lay down the law at one point and say, ‘Look, I can’t do these shows in seven days, it will have to be eight days.'"

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British actress Angela Lansbury with Peter Shaw before their wedding circa 1949. The couple remained together until Shaw's death in 2003 at age 84. (Keystone/Getty Images)

CBS and the production company, Universal Studio, agreed, especially since "Murder, She Wrote" had become a Sunday night hit. Despite the long days — she left her home at Brentwood in West Los Angeles at 6 a.m. and returned after dark — and reams of dialogue to memorize, Lansbury maintained a steady pace. She was pleased that Jessica Fletcher served as an inspiration for older women.

"Women in motion pictures have always had a difficult time being role models for other women," she said. "They’ve always been considered glamorous in their jobs."

In the series’ first season, Jessica wore clothes that were almost frumpy. Then she acquired smartness as Lansbury reasoned that as a successful woman, Jessica should dress the part.

"Murder, She Wrote" stayed high in the ratings through its 11th year. Then CBS, seeking a younger audience for Sunday night, shifted the series to a less favorable midweek slot. Lansbury protested vigorously to no avail. As expected, the ratings plummeted and the show was canceled. For consolation, CBS contracted for two-hour movies of "Murder, She Wrote" and other specials starring Lansbury.

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Angela Lansbury stayed busy as an actress and had zero plans to slow down. (Getty Images)

"Murder, She Wrote" and other television work brought her 18 Emmy nominations, but she never won one. She holds the record for the most Golden Globe nominations and wins for best actress in a television drama series and the most Emmy nominations for lead actress in a drama series.

After solving her last TV murder, Lansbury continued to pursue roles on television and Broadway. In 2014, she was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle.

At 92, Lansbury was still leading a successful acting career. She starred in the PBS miniseries "Little Women." In 2018, she played the Balloon Lady in "Mary Poppins Returns."

In a 2008 Associated Press interview, Lansbury said she still welcomed the right script but did not want to play "old, decrepit women," she said. "I want women my age to be represented the way they are, which is vital, productive members of society."

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Actress Angela Lansbury shows the Dame Commander medal given to her by Queen Elizabeth II at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle on April 15, 2014. (Steve Parsons - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

"I’m astonished at the amount of stuff I managed to pack into the years that I have been in the business. And I’m still here."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.